THIS WORKOUT ROCKS SO FREAKING HARD!! I loved it. It is probably the best workout I have ever done. It was challenging and I could feel ever muscle in my body working its ass off. There is usually something in every workout that I dislike, but this just rocked! I burned 143 calories with the intervals and I learned that I can jump rope much better without a jump rope. So, 2 activity points for the weights and 1 for the intervals. I've decided that all of my weight workouts are going to get 2 points, regardless of how long they take. Most of the time is rest anyway. I hate long rest periods.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I got up too late to do sprints before it got too hot, so I did bench jumps in the house - 75 calories burned, 1 activity point. I followed that up with Recharge from ChaLean Extreme. I'm just not ready for PiYo.

bodyweight matrix (24 squats, 12 lunges per leg, 12 lunge jumps per leg, 24 squat jumps) - 12:39, but I did a light jog at the end to give me an even 15 minutes, and 108 calories burned. The goal for the matrix is to do all the exercises as quickly as possible (in good form). You go through the matrix once, rest twice as long as it took you to do the exercises, then repeat the exercises. I hated resting that long (6:30) and I don't think I'm going to anymore. I think I will rest for an amount of time equal to the time it took me to go through the exercises once.

2 points for the weights and 1 point for the matrix. This is some fun stuff.

One thing I have learned during this horrible, horrible episode of binge eating is that no, I can't keep junk food in the house. I used to be able to but not any more. I've been in denial. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter if we had it in the house, I would go get something. But really, that's not the case 95% of the time. The things I ate this week, I ate because they were there. So no more. I won't be keeping ice cream and chips (not really a big trigger for me) and candy in the house. I do want to keep pretzels because my son likes them, and I don't think they are horrible. It's the sugar that gets me. I have to get rid of the Cheerios, too. I can't keep those in the house. Cheerios are a weakness.

I managed Meatless Monday just fine, and for the first time in 6 months, I was not starving all day. I know my fat was higher but even before that, I had no appetite. I had quite a bit of produce that I needed to eat (before we left for our trip) and I was just not hungry.

I've been doing some investigating into my blood glucose levels. So far, there's nothing alarming, but I have borderline high readings at times. I will continue to monitor this until my test strips are gone (I bought 100).

More investigating regarding rosacea. I've known forever that I have it. I have never been officially diagnosed because I'm not wasting money on a doctor just to tell me that. That also means I can't get prescription medicine, too. Anyway, I was reading up on it, regarding trigger foods. I have had the book, The Rosacea Diet by Barry something-or-other (I'm too lazy to go look) and it's a low carb diet. Not Atkins low but lower than I like. I do know of many low carbers whose skin does improve on Atkins. That aside, the list of possible trigger foods for rosacea makes me sad:

However, seeing chocolate on there might be more motivation for me to give it up. I know that my symptoms (mostly the cyst-like bumps) are worse the more junk I eat.

The rest of my break week was pretty terrible. I was constantly on the go, shopping and prepping for my step-daughter's graduation & party. I didn't get any decent exercise, unless one counts falling on my ass playing badminton exercise. I'm not talking about a slip. I'm talking full run, my feet fly out from under me because I was wearing flip flops on wet grass, feet to the sky, ass to grass fall. Thank goodness only the 3 boys playing the game with me saw what happened. I'm fine but it was enough to end the game for me. I ate terribly but I did pass on the many bags of chips my mother-in-law wanted to send home with me. "But they are made with whole grains. They are healthy!"

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. Who won the Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. This lucky person commented on my Blogger post. Congratulations to Kate&Ro! Please contact me with your info.

Friday, June 18, 2010

After I blogged last night, I had some pork rinds, pretzels, and grapes. Grapes are a Filling Food, and I probably ate 4 points worth of the other stuff. I am not happy about it. I didn't need to eat anything, but I was being nosy when I heard my husband laughing at the television, so I came out to see what he was watching. I ended up grabbing the crap off the shelf on my way through. Bah! I really wanted to eat a peanut butter and nutella sandwich, but I switched to grapes instead.

Today's workout was the TRX Endurance Circuit. Remember to "Like" TRX Suspension System on Facebook. On their TRX Fans Only tab, there is a video of the workout. It will be online free for the next week and a half. Here is the summary, but you really need to watch the video to see how the moves are done.

Start with 1-2 complete circuits and add a third as your strength and conditioning improve. Begin each set in a challenging but manageable body angle. As you fatigue, change position to reduce resistance and keep going! Cardio intervals can include jump rope, burpees, rowing, running, etc. On an intensity scale of 1-10, perform the intervals at a level of 6-7.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

I started this blog on August 3, 2007 - almost 3 years ago. At the time, I'd been low carbing and I'd lost about 30 pounds. Today, I'm down about 30 more. That's 10 pounds a year. Not all that great, but I have learned quite a bit about myself in that time, especially regarding my eating patterns. That is the biggest struggle - the food. I know how to eat. I know how to exercise. And when I do it, I do great. But that damn binge monster gets me and sabotages everything. I know I've said before that I feel like I'm making progress, but I really don't. I feel as helpless as I did 2 years ago, when I first recognized the problem.

I think I need more support regarding my binge eating. I tried finding a local group for binge eaters, but all I found was a Weight Watchers group, and I am not interested in paying for Weight Watchers. I need something specifically related to over eating. The nearest OA chapter is 90 minutes away, and to be honest, I'm not sure I agree with the whole 12-step thing. I considered therapy but I have a feeling I'm going to need to save my therapy pennies for something else (which I'll touch on later in this post). I posted on one of my mommy boards about my binge eating, and there are quite a few of us in that sinking boat. So we started a private Facebook group to deal specifically with the binge eating. In just a few short days, it's been such a relief to find similarly-minded women and just talk about it without any other weight-related issues. I'm hoping to make some progress through this group. If anyone is interested in joining, please give me your email address (you can post it or email it to me at 22gnomes@ gmail.com) and I will send you an invitation to the group. Please be sure to give me the address that is associated with your Facebook account.

Random things I've learned in the last 3 years:

I need to wear my HRM like a man - above the nipples instead of below. When I wore it below the girls, the band of my bra would fold around it weird. I don't lose my signal from my chest strap if I wear it higher.

I make way too many excuses and try to justify all my negative behaviors.

I am never going to be a perfect dieter, so I am never going to have super low body fat. I cannot be that strict. Call it lack of desire, call it lack of will power, whatever. I'm not even going to attempt to drop to super low body fat, even as a challenge. I'll never win a fitness competition, and that is okay with me.

I really don't like junk food. It makes me feel ill. And yet, I can't not eat it. I'm just not there yet.

After years of resistance, Weight Watchers has saved my sanity. For years, I've been looking for a simple method for how to eat. It's easy to say, "Eat as naturally as possible, limit the junk" but not so hard to "limit" the bad stuff. Using the Simply Filling Technique, I have that guidance. Of course, I still binge, but my binges are not related in any way to the nutritional lifestyle I follow. And as I've mentioned before, I 100% support low carb programs like Atkins and South Beach (as long as they are properly followed), but Atkins especially is not for me. I eat a larger variety of foods now than I ever did. I don't believe carbs (such as rice, beans, potatoes, other grains) are bad for me. Those I can moderate. It's the sugar and such that I cannot. But finally, the way I want to eat is packaged in a way I can understand and implement with SFT. Eat as naturally as possible, limit the junk.

I don't like high-volume work. With the exception of Turbo Jam, I like to get my workouts done quickly. So I definitely see myself kicking up the intensity and shortening the workouts. Work smarter & harder, not longer.

I LOVE TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS AND OFFER GUIDANCE. Yes, I'm shouting, because I really love to do it. Of course, I have no credentials, but I don't offer unhealthy advice. I know I am biased toward strength training and high intensity cardio, and at times it is difficult to remember that not everyone likes that stuff. Still, it makes me crazy to see so many people dropping calories super low, aiming for Biggest Loser rate weight loss, and doing cardio (or light weights) for an hour or two. Why not be efficient? Go hard & heavy, get it over with. Do you want to spend the rest of your life exercising for 2 hours a day and living on 1200 calories? I sure as hell don't.

So what's in store for the next 3 years? A friend asked me the other day if my food struggles are related to something else I am going through. Without getting into to much detail, I have been trying to find myself as a person and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with that. It never occurred to me that the two things would be related until she brought it up. So hopefully my food issues will work themselves out as I resolve that other issue.

I still want to add some muscle. If I ever get to a comfortable weight and gain confidence in my eating, I will train & eat for muscle growth. I know that fat gain will likely come with it, but if I can control my binges and gain by eating the right foods, I don't anticipate a problem cutting after the bulk.

I am going to get more involved in nutrition and fitness education. I would love to get certified somehow, and work with kids to help them develop and maintain healthy habits. Of course, this starts at home. My big goal for the summer is to introduce good nutrition to my son. He sees how I eat and exercise now, but he still asks for junk way too often, and I have to be a hard ass about it. I have no problem at all with treats for him - just not multiple times a day. I'd like to move more toward healthy things without the arguments and tears.

I want to earn my Platinum Award in the President's Challenge. I started April 14, 2007, just logging my daily activity. By June 2008, I earned my Bronze Award. I got my Silver in December, 2007 and my Gold in May 2008. I am 54% of the way to my Platinum. It is taking forever to get to Platinum because I don't spend as much time working out as I used to because of the whole, work smarter & harder not longer thing I've learned. Also, it just takes longer. You need need a bazillion points to get the Platinum. You have to purchase the awards (which I don't do) but the log is there with everything I've done since I started. It's cool to see. And when I get that last award, I will be proud of myself. Not that I'm not already...

I will, of course, continue this blog. It has saved me so many times. I like being able to reference things I've posted so others can read them. I like having a record of what I've eaten and what I've done in terms of exercise. I want to remember all of it, the good and the bad. Someday, I want to be able to look back and say, "Wow, look how far I've come!"

NOW FOR THE DVD GIVEAWAY.

This giveway is for Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism, 50 minutes of cardio drills, circuit style. It's really the only Jillian dvd I love. With the exception of an ab segment, it reminds me a lot of Plyo X from P90X. So if you're interested in owning this workout, leave a comment on this post, telling me what you have learned in your own weight loss/fitness/health journey. I will draw one commenter (from all my blogs, names just all thrown in a hat) at random on June 28, so have your comments in before 8 AM (Eastern) on that day. I'll post reminders with all my blog entries until then.

I was going to do Cardio Party 3 but my son insisted I do a shorter workout, so he could have the tv. When he realized Fat Blaster wasn't as short as the 20 Minute Workout, he cried and pitched a fit, resulting in the loss of tv for the entire day. So I should have just done CP3 anyway. I really pushed today, and burned 225 calories, 2 activity points.

Tomorrow's workout - TRX Endurance Circuit. Remember to "Like" TRX Suspension Sytem on Facebook. On their TRX Fans Only tab, there is a video of the workout. It will be online free for the next week and a half. When I post tomorrow, I will outline the workout, but you really need to see the video, too.

2 activity points for this. I did bump my Cuban snatch up by 5 pounds and it was hard!!!

If you have a suspension trainer and are on Facebook, be sure to "Like" TRX Suspension Training. For the next two weeks, they are offering a free workout on the Fans Only tab. It's about 15 minutes long, and has 3 segments of suspension training and intervals. So be sure to check them out. I might try the workout Friday and again on Monday.

I went to give blood today and my iron was too low. Not by much, but it didn't come up enough after the second stick to donate. I will have to try again on Friday. It's so hard to find a place to give blood around here because, as far as I know, it's jut the blood mobile and I've never seen a schedule. I will have to ask when I go on Friday. I really want to start doing it again. And of course, I'm still holding onto hope that I can be a blood marrow donor. I was a fantastic match for someone last year, but they passed away before we could do anything other than 3 rounds of testing. It was looking so good, too. I was really upset about that.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I had a heck of a time deciding what move to do for this. I ended up doing bench jumps. It wasn't as exhausting as sprinting, but it worked my body differently. Bench jumps give me a bit of a shoulder workout, because I have to hold on to the bench while I jump from side to side. I might as well have done plank jacks. Maybe next week. I burned 70 calories in the 10 minutes. Not bad for 4 minutes of work (all the rest was warm up & cool down) - that's why I love tabata protocol!! 1 activity point.

I was totally unprepared to eat cheese & fruit at lunch. Fortunately, I knew the cheese was 2 points, but the fruit, even though a Filling Food, felt a bit out of control. I have been measuring and tracking all of my food, to get a feel for calories, and I couldn't do that with the fruit. As a result, I ended up taking second helpings of the beans and the fruit. I felt slightly out of control, even for "good" foods. Fortunately, it didn't derail the rest of my day. There were a few times I thought I might lose it, but I didn't. I wanted to just eat fruit and vegetables straight out of my refrigerator, but I am trying to have some self control, even with healthy foods.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

I did not exercise Thursday or Friday. No real reason, other than being lazy. I wish my schedule for this month weren't so open, with my trip to New York coming up. There's a week and a half where I can't do NROL workouts (so I wouldn't be leaving mid-stage), so I'm trying to spread them out over that time.

Food sucked those days, too. Harcore suck. I'm up 13 pounds from my December low. I'm overweight again. But I think I've figured out how to stay motivated. I want Turbo Fire. I can't have it until I reach my goal weight of 120 pounds. I got on the scale last night after eating miserable amounts of crappy food. I need to lose 20 pounds before I can buy Turbo Fire. I want Turbo Fire so badly, my whole body tenses when I think about it, like I'm about to spring into action. So there I go. I want Turbo Fire and I won't buy it until I lose 20 pounds.

So, onward...

Saturday's workout: Stage 2B

wide grip dead lift from box 2x10x70 lbs

75 s rest

Bulgarian split squat 2x10x20 lbs [per leg]

underhand-grip lat pull down (assisted chin up) 2x10

75 s rest

reverse lunge from box w/ forward reach 2x10x20 lbs [per leg]

dumbbell prone Cuban snatch 2x10x10 lbs

75 s rest

(long arm) Swiss ball crunch 2x10

reverse crunch 2x10

lateral flexion - Swiss ball side crunch 2x10 [per side]

75 s rest

prone cobra 2x90 s

I was able to improve everything but the Cuban snatch, and I really should have bumped it up to 15 pounds but I was chicken. Bah! Next time.

I also went for a bike ride with my son, to the post office. I didn't count it as exercise because this kid pedals so slowly, I probably gained weight instead of burning calories.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I did my intervals this morning, but my heart wasn't really in it. The headache I had yesterday was still lingering when I woke up. I was not in the mood for burrpees and globe jumps so I did bench jumps for the whole thing. It was a good enough workout - 125 calories burned (1 activity point).

Food:
banana
omelet w/ onion, green peppers, avocado & salsa
chicken breast w/ curried beans
yogurt w/ pudding mix
chicken salad w/ homemade honey mustard dressing
M&Ms [16 pts] - I hate myself. I was eating these stupid things (which I'd asked my husband to get rid of yesterday, because I couldn't bring myself to do it) and I felt so out of control, so depressed. I knew it was a turning point. I could either get rid of the damn things (we're taking 2-3 pounds of candy) and turn my shit around or keep eating and probably undo everything I've spent the last 3 1/2 years working for. I threw them out.

80 ounces of water and 2 coffees. 19 weekly and 1 activity point remaining.

Monday, June 7, 2010

I didn't work out this morning. I was supposed to do weights, then I changed my mind and planned to do intervals instead. Then I said, screw it. So I did nothing. I'm not happy about it but it is what it is. I was cranky and had a headache all day. And it did not help when a) one of the girls at work brought in donuts and b) the school served cake at lunch to celebrate the opening of the outdoor classroom. Those donuts and cake called my name all damn day. I didn't touch them.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I went for a bike ride this morning. Just over 5 miles in just under 40 minutes. I burned 244 calories. I really need to practice biking. I'm really slow, but I enjoyed it.

The day started off well enough, but by pre-lunch, I thought I'd blown it. I ate a normal breakfast after my bike ride, drank my first 40 ounces of water, and went off to exchange a pair of shorts and look for a pool cover. It ended up being a pain in the ass back and forth morning looking for the cover and some specific cleaner my husband wanted. By the time I finished all that, never even finding a pool cover, I was hungry and cranky and so was my son. He suggested Subway. I reluctantly agreed, then said screw it. I got a footlong Spicy Italian sub. I figured I'd eat half of it, and take the other half home for later. The stupid things was so darn good, I ate the entire 1200 calorie mistake right there, all before 11 AM. So I grumbled about that and told myself since I'd blown it, I was going home and having ice cream. Lots of ice cream.

Fortunately, by the time I got to the produce stand, I talked some sense into myself. I don't have any weekly or activity points left, so I was going to try to stick to filling foods, and mostly vegetables and fruit. That lasted all of 2 hours. Then I ate quite a bit of crap. Bad, bad crap.

I'm getting desperate. I cannot control this. It's not a boredom issue, though I do better during the week when I'm at work. And that scares the hell out of me because I only have 3 more days of work. Even if I'm busy, I'm thinking about food. I never should have bought that damn sub this morning. I knew it was a bad idea, but I was hungry. And I'd just eaten 2 hours before - protein and fat, so I should have been satisfied. But I rarely am.

I hate this. I keep telling myself, "At least you don't give up." Because I don't. I stick with it, whatever this is. I'm still trying. And I keep telling myself, "You're very consistent about your workouts." Because I am. I am a freaking rockstar when it comes to exercise. But I can't do the thing that matters most - stick with a healthy diet to lose weight. I can give myself a B+ for effort but really, who am I kidding? I suck at this. I've made ZERO progress in two years. None, in 24+ months.

This workout makes me sweat. I know sweating is not really an indicator of calories burned or how hard you're working, but strength training rarely makes me sweat, and I'm dripping by the time I finish this! 2 activity points.

2 activity points. For the woodchop, I anchored my shortest, thickest resistance band to the squat rack. It worked pretty well, and I felt it in my core rather than my shoulders, like I did with the lying down alternative.

I pulled something right off the bat with my squats. It's not a horrible pain but it was bad enough that I couldn't do my lunges to parallel with my left leg, and I will probably have to take a rest day tomorrow.